Category Archives: Transhuman News

Local law enforcement officials in Cleveland tell WKYC that accused kidnapper Ariel Castro is the father of Amanda Berry's 6-year-old daughter.

By Erin McClam, Staff Writer, NBC News

DNA tests have confirmed that Ariel Castro, the suspect in the kidnapping and decade-long imprisonment of three women in Cleveland, is the father of a 6-year-old girl born to one of the women in captivity, the Ohio attorney general said Friday.

Attorney General Mike DeWine also said that Castros DNA did not match other unsolved Ohio cases. He said that the FBI is still checking Castros DNA against unsolved cases elsewhere in the country.

Castro, 52, is charged with four counts of kidnapping and three counts of rape in the abductions of the three women and is being held on $8 million bond. They were freed Monday night when one of them, Amanda Berry, broke through a door and screamed for help.

Berry is the mother of the 6-year-old, who was also rescued from the house, authorities have said.

The baby was delivered in a kiddie pool by another captive, Michelle Knight, according to a Cleveland police report. Knight told investigators that Castro threatened to kill her if the baby died, the report said.

Knight also told investigators that Castro impregnated her at least five times, and starved her and pummeled her in the stomach to force her to miscarry, the police report said.

A DNA match to Castro would confirm what Berry told police, according to the police account. It also said that Castro would take the child out with him, and made sure the girl did not know Knights or DeJesus real name in case she said them in public.

An Ohio prosecutor pledged Thursday to pursue charges of aggravated murder against Castro for any pregnancies that he terminated.

Excerpt from:
DNA tests confirm Cleveland kidnap suspect is father of girl freed from house

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Applied DNA Sciences to Host Conference Call Thursday, May 16, 2013

CLEVELAND (AP) A DNA test confirmed another dark twist in the story of three women imprisoned in a house for about a decade: Kidnapping and rape suspect Ariel Castro is the father of a 6-year-old girl who escaped from the house along with the women, a prosecutor said Friday.

As the investigation into the women's ordeal continued, the FBI also said no human remains were among more than 200 pieces of evidence collected from the house.

Two of the women, including the one who gave birth to the girl, returned to relatives' houses earlier this week. The third woman, Michelle Knight, was released from a hospital Friday with a request that her privacy be respected.

"Michelle Knight is in good spirits and would like the community to know that she is extremely grateful for the outpouring of flowers and gifts," the statement said.

No information would be provided about Knight's next steps, said MetroHealth Medical Center spokeswoman Phyllis Marino.

Castro remained in jail under a suicide watch on $8 million bond while prosecutors weighed what charges they might bring against him, including the possibility of charges carrying a death penalty. He currently is charged with rape and kidnapping.

Castro was represented at Thursday's hearing by public defender Kathleen Demetz, who said she is acting as Castro's adviser if needed until he's appointed a full-time attorney once he's charged by a grand jury. She said Friday she can't speak to his guilt or innocence and said only that she advised him not to give any media interviews that might jeopardize his case.

Family members have portrayed Castro as a "monster" who terrorized the mother of his children, frequently beating her, playing twisted psychological games and locking her indoors.

The stories, repeated in separate interviews by members of Castro's extended family, have surprised people who knew him as a musician who played bass in several bands around Cleveland the last two decades.

Miguel Quinones, manager of a group Castro played with twice as a backup bass player about five years ago, said Thursday he had nothing bad to say about Castro based on his own experiences.

Original post:
DNA shows Ohio kidnapping suspect fathered girl

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

(CNN) -- DNA tests confirm that Ariel Castro is the father of a 6-year-old girl born to one of the three women he is accused of keeping in captivity for more than a decade, the Ohio attorney general's office said Friday.

Castro's DNA did not match that from any other open Ohio cases, according to Dan Tierney, a spokesman for the attorney general's office. National results are pending through the FBI, he said.

Amanda Berry's 6-year-old daughter was among those rescued Monday when Berry escaped from the home where police say she had been held since Castro allegedly lured her into his car on April 21, 2003.

Also freed: Michelle Knight, who disappeared in 2002, and Georgina "Gina" DeJesus, who vanished in 2004.

The man accused of abducting them spent Friday in a 9-by-9-foot northern Ohio jail cell with a bed, sink, toilet, steel door and window, through which he is watched around-the-clock, said Cuyahoga County Sheriff's Office spokesman John O'Brien. Castro is on suicide prevention -- which is standard procedure for high-profile inmates -- according to O'Brien.

A day earlier, a judge ordered he be held Thursday on $8 million bond on kidnapping and rape charges.

Cuyahoga County Prosecutor Timothy McGinty said he would seek additional charges against Castro for "each and every act of sexual violence, each day of kidnapping, all his attempted murders and each act of aggravated murder."

The attempted and aggravated murders refer to instances in which Castro allegedly forced miscarriages, according to McGinty.

According to an initial incident report obtained by CNN, Knight told investigators that she became pregnant at least five times while in captivity, and each time Castro would repeatedly starve and punch her in the stomach to induce a miscarriage.

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DNA test shows captor fathered girl, Ohio AG's office says